Maow writes: The website was part of a personal project by [Remy] Couture designed to raise the bar of his make-up and special- effects work. Couture, who is self-taught, sought to bring a psychopathic killer character of his own making to life.

Couture described it as a sort of "fake diary of a serial killer," complete with his own universe inspired by horror movies and literature. But there was no victim in the case — all of the works were staged with willing actresses and a combination of fake blood, latex and silicone to create lifelike, horrific images.

The trial heard that Interpol received a complaint in 2006 from a user in Austria. The scenes were deemed so realistic that a pathologist in Europe couldn't rule out that a homicide had actually been committed. Montreal police began their investigation in early 2009.

Police officers who testified had doubts that Couture's work was real homicide, but still engaged in an elaborate sting operation with police posing as clients looking to do a gory photo shoot around Halloween.

"My objective was to create horror, plain and simple," Couture told the court.

It seems one cannot fault the police for the initial investigation, since we've now seen a Montreal snuff film posted on-line become the first indication of (an infamous murder).